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Perfect 3-0 for Panthers Prospects

by
Staff Writer
/ Florida Panthers

With a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning rookies on Tuesday, the Florida Panthers prospects completed the 2014 tournament undefeated, going a perfect 3-0, The Cats rookies earned a 2-0 shutout win over the Boston Bruins rookies on Saturday and a 3-1 win over the host team, Nashville Predators on Sunday, to finish as the prospect tournament champions.

Less than five minutes into the opening period on Tuesday, D Mackenzie Weegar got the Panthers on the board first, when he banged home a loose puck past Tampa Bay G Andrei Vasilevskiy. After the Lightning tied the game 1-1, F Logan Shaw found a loose puck and fired a shot into the top corner to give the Cats a 2-1 lead.

Panthers 2014 second round draft pick F Jayce Hawryluk added a power play tally in the middle frame to give Florida a 3-1 advantage. The Cats continued to pad their lead, scoring two early third period goals from F Connor Brickley and D Andrew Blazek, before the Bolts answered with a pair of their own goals. Cats rookie F Juho Lammikko iced the game for Florida scoring an empty netter . The Panthers finished the game outshooting Tampa Bay 42-29

Shaw (2-1-3) ,Hawryluk (1-2-3) and Steven Hodges (2-1-3) finished the tournament tied with a team-leading three points in three games. G Sam Brittain finished the tournament making 55 saves on 57 shots in three games played.

In other prospects tournament action, Nashville plays Boston in the final rookie tournament game at 2 p.m. today.